1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device which will warn the operator of a vehicle, or any other type of machinery, that they may be falling asleep.
2. Introduction and Description of Related Art
Each year a large number of traffic related fatalities are attributed to vehicle operators falling asleep at the wheel of their vehicles. To reduce the incidence of sleep related fatalities, devices that warn a person of their sleepy or drowsy condition have been proposed in the art. However, none of the previously proposed devices combine an ophthalmic contact device having a detectable feature and a detector which can detect that feature, with the detector sounding an alarm when the feature is not detectable because of the closing of a person's eyelids. In addition to vehicle operators, there are a myriad of other professions and/or circumstances where a device for alerting a person who is about to fall asleep would be found useful. Therefore, although the present invention is discussed in the context of alerting a vehicle operator, it should be understood that the present invention is applicable to anyone operating any type of machinery or performing any type of duty where the person performing the duty needs to stay alert.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,964, issued to Nickolay Obraztsov on Apr. 9, 1996, discloses a vision correction means including holographic particles suspended in a liquid carrier. The vision correction means is applied to the eyes in the form of eye drops. Obraztsov does not disclose an ophthalmic contact device having a detectable feature used in conjunction with a detector which can detect that feature and which sounds an alarm when the feature is not detectable because of the closing of a person's eyelids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,698, issued to Cheng-Chung Liang et al. on Nov. 5, 1996, discloses a system for monitoring a person's eyes for detecting sleep behavior. The system of Liang et al. uses a camera to record sequential images of the human face. Signals are generated based upon the images and processed to detect eye and head movements indicative of sleepiness. Liang et al. do not use an ophthalmic contact device as part of their system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,590, issued to Harold E. Clupper on Dec. 10, 1996, discloses a system for warning of sleepiness which uses electrodes placed about the eyes and a tilt meter to detect sleepiness of a person. The Clupper patent does not use an ophthalmic contact device as part of the disclosed system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,673, issued to Marc D. Rafal et al. on Mar. 11, 1997, discloses a system for detecting the position of the pupil of an eye by projecting two infra red spots on the eye. Rafal et al. do not use an ophthalmic contact device as part of their system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,176, issued to Philip C. D. Hobbs et al. on Jun. 10, 1997, discloses a system for tracking the eye using the interference fringes between the corneal glint and retinal reflections caused by a laser beam. Hobbs et al. do not use an ophthalmic contact device as part of their system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,642, issued to Alan R. Kirschbaum on Jul. 1, 1997, discloses an apparatus for tracking eye movements using short coherence length interferometry. The Kirschbaum patent does not use an ophthalmic contact device as part of the disclosed system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,144, issued to Kallis Hans Mannik on Oct. 28, 1997, discloses an apparatus for detecting whether or not a driver has fallen asleep. The apparatus of Mannik uses a light emitter mounted to eyeglasses. The emitter sends a beam across the surface of the eye ball to a detector which is also mounted to the eyeglasses. When eyelids are shut the beam is disrupted thus detecting whether or not a driver has fallen asleep. The apparatus of Mannik does not use an ophthalmic contact device with a detectable feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,619, issued to Christopher C. Smyth on Nov. 18, 1997, is directed to an eye movement tracker for use with a heads-up display. The device of Smyth incorporates well known eye tracking means such as pupil trackers and trackers using lumbus boundary, double punkenje image, corneal reflections or retinal images. An ophthalmic contact device is not used as part of the Smyth system.
United Kingdom Patent Application Number 2215040, by William George David Ritchie, dated Sep. 13, 1989, shows a device for warning a driver of having fallen asleep, which uses a camera to monitor the driver's eyes. An ophthalmic contact device is not used in the system of Ritchie.
Soviet Document Number 820797, by R. V. Daminov, dated Apr. 18, 1981, shows the use of electrodes to monitor electrophysiological activity around the eyes. Daminov does not refer to the use of an ophthalmic contact device.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.